To create electric current, you need to understand electromagnetism. In modern earth history, on October 17, 1831, Faraday discovered the phenomenon of electromagnetic induction for the first time, and then obtained a method to generate alternating current, which is considered an important achievement of electromagnetism.
The so-called electromagnetic induction phenomenon is that when a magnet passes through a closed circuit, a current will be generated in the circuit.
Taking advantage of this phenomenon, keep the closed circuit still and keep turning the magnet. Let the closed circuit cut the magnetic field lines emitted by the magnet in a stationary state, then a continuous current will be generated in the circuit, and the mechanical energy will be converted into electrical energy, thus becoming a simple generator. This is knowledge from high school physics textbooks. It is not very advanced, but what is a bit troublesome is the realization of basic materials and basic parts.
If you want this engine to run continuously, you cannot rely on human power. It is inefficient and error-prone. You can only rely on natural resources, either wind power or water power. Richard chose wind power, so he designed a power-generating windmill for craftsmen to make.
However, craftsmen can only make some simple parts, such as complex rotors, energy storage devices, shafts, etc., which must be done by themselves, which is very troublesome. Because of this, I don't want to do this unless I have to.
But now that I have decided, I have no choice but to go ahead.
The first is the production of the rotor.
The main material of the rotor is magnets, including neodymium iron boron magnets, samarium cobalt magnets, alnico magnets, and iron chromium cobalt magnets. But in the current world, within the Blue Lion Kingdom, there are no magnets of any kind at all, so we can only make them ourselves. The type you choose to make is the simplest and most common one - ferroferric oxide (Fe3O4) magnet.
To make ferroferric oxide magnets, you need to obtain ferroferric oxide as a material.
There are many methods to obtain this material, such as the hydrogen reduction method of α-iron oxide, the slow oxidation method of ferrous hydroxide, Harber method, addition method, alkali addition method, etc. The addition method is your choice. The two most critical reaction substrates for this method are elemental iron (iron filings, Fe) and iron oxide (rust powder, Fe2O3)...
…
Taking a deep breath, Richard washed his hands, put on a dust mask to prevent powder from entering his mouth and nose, and began to operate.
First, Richard put iron filings into sulfuric acid. It can be seen with the naked eye that as soon as it is put in, a large number of bubbles will appear in the beaker, and a violent reaction will occur. In the process, ferrous sulfate (FeSO4) will be generated.
After the reaction was completed, Richard began to add caustic soda (NaOH) and iron oxide (Fe2O3). It is then heated to 95-105°C to allow an addition reaction to occur in the solution, ultimately producing ferric oxide.
However, the Fe3O4 was not pure at this time, so Richard transferred the solution to a funnel with filter paper and began to filter it. After filtration, the filtered solid material was dried, and then a series of operations were performed. Finally, after a lot of effort, pure ferric oxide was finally produced.
Then through magnetization, ferroferric oxide becomes a real magnet, completely black. Repeat this step to make a sufficient number of magnets and fix them in the ring-shaped mold to create the most important part of the generator - the rotor.
After doing this, Richard did not rest and started making energy storage equipment again. After all, windmills can generate electricity, but the electricity must be stored before it can be used. This requires the use of real rechargeable batteries, not fruit batteries, and not capacitors like Leyden jars.
What Richard plans to make is a lead-acid battery, which is the cheapest and most common electric vehicle battery on the modern earth.
It was chosen because, on the one hand, the materials are easy to collect, and on the other hand, the structure is simple, with only four parts: the positive plate group, the negative plate group, the electrolyte and the container.
In addition to sulfuric acid as the electrolyte, there is actually only one, or two, substances needed:
The first type, lead, is used to make the negative plate group.
The second type, the oxide of lead in the air, lead oxide, is used to make the positive plate group.
In today's medieval world, many things may be missing, but lead is not the only thing missing. Because according to the development of the modern earth, humans began to refine iron, copper, silver and lead in large quantities in more than 2000 AD.
So, without much effort, Richard got enough lead and lead oxide.
Taking a deep breath, Richard's eyes became serious.
Both lead and lead oxide are toxic. Excessive inhalation and ingestion can cause heavy metal poisoning, ranging from physical discomfort to death.
In the ancient Roman era on modern earth, the ancient Romans did not know the dangers of lead. They used lead pipes as water pipes for a long time and used lead as drinking containers. This led to chronic lead poisoning in a large number of people and became an important reason for the decline of ancient Rome.
Richard knew this and didn't want to make the same mistake again and get seriously ill before he became a wizard, so he took adequate precautions before conducting the experiment.
First put on a dust mask, then put on a beak mask outside, put on a tight-fitting black protective suit that covered all the skin, and finally put on gloves made of cow bladder.
After finishing preparations, Richard took a deep breath and felt the air pouring into his lungs through the herbal capsule in the bird's beak mask. He fixed his gaze and moved his hands.
First, pour enough sulfuric acid into the prepared container as the analytical solution. Then insert the gray velvety lead plate as the negative electrode into the container and fix it. Then put in the tan lead oxide plate as the positive electrode and fix it.
Place a separator between the positive and negative electrodes to prevent contact between the electrodes. After that, this step is repeated continuously, and one lead plate and one lead oxide plate are continuously inserted into the container in this order. Finally, the entire container is full.
The reason for doing this is to put multiple sets of positive and negative plates together to function in series, thereby increasing the voltage of the lead-acid battery.
After doing this, Richard breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that he had completed the main work of the lead-acid battery, and the next step was to set up the external wires and other trivial details.
Scattered until evening, Richard finally completed everything.
With two soft "bang bang" sounds, Richard put the prepared lead-acid battery and rotor on the wooden frame. He turned around and took off his gloves, the beak mask, the dust mask, and the protective clothing. Only then did he realize that his whole body All soaked.
After all, it was a hot summer day, and even working in a relatively cool palace for a whole afternoon was extremely painful. He didn't notice it while he was working, but when he finished, he felt the underwear sticking to his skin, making his whole body extremely sticky.
Frowning, Richard opened the door and walked out of the independent laboratory.